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Have You No Shame? Have You No Decency?

Guess who the Presbyterian Church is boycotting? Hint: it's not Iran, North Korea or China.

The Presbyterian Church has never boycotted Iran, North Korea or China. Shamefully, the organization last week voted to divest from businesses that supply products in Israel, and as The American Jewish Committee stated, a group within the Presbyterian Church was “driven by hatred of Israel” and had led a campaign of misinformation. (Organizations including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, ADL, B'nai B'rith, and many others also condemned the church.)

While the organization has been quiet about burning churches in the Middle East, they wrongfully work to harm the only Jewish state. A 1998 Presbyterian Church General Assembly Overture called for a suspension of all U.S. aid to Israel. For a long time, the website of the Presbyterian Church web site said “Proponents of divestment say it would pressure Israeli and American companies to change policies toward the Palestinians in the same way economic pressure on South Africa led to an end of apartheid.”

The best answer comes from the Zionist prophet, Ze’ev Jabotinsky in an essay he wrote many years ago: “Instead of excessive apology and instead of turning our backs to the accusers – as there is nothing to apologize for, and nobody to apologize to – it is long overdue to respond to all current and future accusations, reproaches, suspicions, slanders and denunciations by simply folding our arms and loudly, clearly, coldly and calmly answer,'Go to Hell!'

"Who are we, to make excuses to them; who are they to interrogate us? What is the purpose of this mock trial over the entire people where the sentence is known in advance? Our habit of constantly and zealously answering to any rabble has already done us a lot of harm and will do much more. The situation that has been created as a result, tragically confirms a well known saying: 'Qui s’excuse s’accuse' (He who apologizes condemns himself).

"We ourselves have acquainted our neighbors with the thought that for every embezzling Jew, it is possible to drag the entire ancient people to answer, a people that was legislating at a time when their neighbors had not even invented a bast shoe. Every accusation causes such commotion among us that people unwittingly think, 'Why are they so afraid of everything?’ Apparently their conscience is not clear. Exactly because we are ready at every minute to stand at attention, there develops among the people an inescapable view about us, as of some specifically thievish tribe.

"We think that our constant readiness to undergo a search without hesitation and to turn out our pockets will eventually convince mankind of our nobility; look what gentlemen we are–we do not have anything to hide! This is a terrible mistake. The real gentlemen are the people that will not allow anyone for any reason to search their apartments, their pockets or their souls. Only a person under surveillance is ready for a search at every moment. This is the only inevitable conclusion from our maniacal reaction to every reproach, to accept responsibility as a people for every action of a Jew, and to make excuses in front of everybody.

"I consider this system to be false at its very root. We are hated not because we are blamed for everything, but we are blamed for everything because we are not loved. We do not have to apologize for anything. We are a people as all other peoples; we do not have any intentions to be better than the rest. We do not have to account to anybody; we are not to sit for anybody’s examination and nobody is old enough to call on us to answer. We came before them. We are what we are, we are good for ourselves, we will not change and we do not want to."

In fact, with Muslim extremists killing Christians & burning Churches throughout the Middle East today, one can ask The Presbyterian Church, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked at the United Nations some years ago, "Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"

Decent people everywhere should say shame on The Presbyterian Church. Israel’s struggle – as Netanyahu notes - against “fanaticism does not pit faith against faith nor civilization against civilization. It pits civilization against barbarism, the 21st century against the 9th century, those who sanctify life against those who glorify death.” It is the good guys against the bad guys.

In recent years, countless Christian-Americans and Christian world leaders have been strong allies and partners for Israel, and they undoubtedly will continue to be, despite this wrong decision by The Presbyterian Church.